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Smaller towns and cities in BC watching ride-hailing debate

FILE – That Wednesday, June 21, 2017, file photo shows the building that houses the headquarters of Uber, at San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

Acting mayor of Prince George states city has informally discussed ride-hailing , looking into the effects that are Probable

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The latest drive to deliver ride-hailing services to BC came from the Green Party at Victoria yesterday, and it is not just cities in the Lower Mainland that are watching.

The guarantee of more transport choices may be welcome for anybody who has ever tried to grab a late night taxi in smaller communities such as Smithers, Castlegar or Penticton — it is for the mayor of a reasonably larger facility.

“We have a city that is about the same people as Victoria but approximately 13 times the area so using a ride-hailing service could be beneficial under the ideal conditions,” says Garth Frizzelle, acting mayor of Prince George, that points outside town has a rigorous method of ensuring public transport drivers are licensed and at the wheel of safe vehicles.

Frizzelle states they’ve discussed it informally even though Prince George has taken no official position about whether or not businesses such as Lyft or Uber ought to be permitted in town, and they’re looking into possible impacts on employment and local transport.

“We’re both a metropolitan center and we’ve got rural attributes here and if you start looking over a number of the outcomes for motorists who’ve been doing this in rural settings, it doesn’t look that promising. Prince George differs from most cities so I think there’s more to look at with this than a simple yes or not,” he informs NEWS 1130.

Frizzelle says he’s already heard, anecdotally, about possible resistance in the neighborhood taxi sector to Uber or Lyft coming to the community later on, much as there’s been in other cities, but there’s been no formal discussion with the business or debate in the city hall.

“It has not hit the council table yet, but we are all aware of what is going on and some people have used the services in other cities so it’s not going to be unexpected as it comes up at some stage.”

The governing New Democrats and Opposition Liberals made campaign promises during the election to get ride-hailing in place of last spring.

The NDP claims that the effect on the taxi industry has to be analyzed next 17, before introducing legislation.

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